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Author Archives: hksar gov

Update on latest MERS situation in Saudi Arabia

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (October 4) closely monitoring 32 additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), including 10 deaths, reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) between June 1 and September 16, 2018, and again urged the public to pay special attention to safety during travel, taking due consideration of the health risks in the places they visit.
 
     According to the WHO, among the 28 male and four female patients aged 29 to 84, 23 of them had underlying illnesses, 12 had exposure to camels, and one was health care worker. Among these 32 cases, 12 cases involved in one hospital cluster and four household clusters.

     According to the latest information, 2 254 cases have been reported to the WHO (with 800 deaths), including 2 035 in 10 Middle East countries comprising 1 876 in the KSA, 87 in the United Arab Emirates, 28 in Jordan, 19 in Qatar, 11 in Oman, six in Iran, four in Kuwait, two in Lebanon, and one each in Yemen and Bahrain.

     “We will maintain close communication with the WHO and relevant health authorities,” a spokesman for the CHP said.

     “Travellers to the Middle East should avoid going to farms, barns or markets with camels; avoid contact with sick persons and animals, especially camels, birds or poultry; and avoid unnecessary visits to healthcare facilities. We strongly advise travel agents organising tours to the Middle East to abstain from arranging camel rides and activities involving direct contact with camels, which are known risk factors for acquiring MERS Coronavirus,” the spokesman said.

     Travellers to affected areas should maintain vigilance, adopt appropriate health precautions and take heed of personal, food and environmental hygiene. The public may visit the MERS page of the CHP and its Travel Health Service, MERS statistics in affected areas, the CHP’s Facebook Page and YouTube Channel, and the WHO’s latest news for more information and health advice. Tour leaders and tour guides operating overseas tours are advised to refer to the CHP’s health advice on MERS. read more

Upgraded LegCo App brings new features

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council Secretariat (the Secretariat) released an upgraded version (version 4.0) of the mobile application for the Legislative Council (LegCo App) today (October 4).

     The Secretariat launched the LegCo App to facilitate users to access the latest LegCo information of various types on mobile devices.  In response to feedback from users, the LegCo App brings two new functions, namely “Business of the Week” and “What’s New”, and enhances the functions for “Webcast”, “Calendar” as well as “Members’ Contact Directory” in the current upgrade to version 4.0.

     Descriptions of each new feature are as below:

Business of the Week
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     Users are able to obtain the highlighted information about the meetings of LegCo and its committees to be held each week through the new function of “Business of the Week” on the home page of the LegCo App.

What’s New
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     The latest press releases and announcements are moved to “What’s New” on the home page of the LegCo App to further facilitate users to stay up-to-date with Council business.

Webcast
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     Apart from the floor version of the meetings of LegCo and its committees as well as official media briefings, the upgraded version of the LegCo App allows users to listen to or watch the live webcast of the simultaneous interpretation (SI) versions, including Cantonese, English and Putonghua, when the SI services are available at the meetings.  Users can also choose multiple languages at the playback of the recordings.  Meanwhile, the upgraded version introduces new function of instant replay and offers better video resolution.

Calendar
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     The upgraded Calendar allows users to view the schedule of LegCo meetings and activities for more months.

Members’ Contact Directory
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     Users are able to download the PDF version of the Members’ Contact Directory to access the contact information of all Members.

     Members of the public may now download the upgraded LegCo App (version 4.0) or perform upgrade for free from Apple App Store or Google Play, as appropriate, for their mobile devices to keep themselves abreast of LegCo business.  The LegCo App is also available for download from the LegCo Website at www.legco.gov.hk/english/mobile-app.html.  It supports devices running on Apple iOS (version 8.0 or above) and Android (version 4.1 or above). read more

Red fire danger warning

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

     The fire danger situation today (October 4) is red and fire risk is extreme. The countryside is extremely vulnerable to fire. If you are planning to spend the day in the countryside, please take pre-cooked food for a picnic and take all measures to prevent hill fires. The penalty for lighting fires illegally in the countryside is $25,000 and a year’s imprisonment.
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